Three months ago, Dolph Lundgren unveiled his own vodka brand, Hard Cut. Ahead of his appearance at the Bar Convent Brooklyn trade show in New York this week, Global Drinks Intel editor Olly Wehring quizzed the Swedish actor about his involvement in the latest celebrity brand to hit the spirits shelves.
How involved have you been in the creation of Hard Cut?
I used to drink vodka back in the 90s, then I moved to tequila for a while and then whiskey, before I went back to vodka. About six years ago, I was in Santa Barbara with my current wife [co-founder Emma Krokdal], and I was looking for a good vodka to drink. I looked at the backbar and there were a lot of cool-looking tequila and whiskey bottles, but the vodka section looked a little boring.
I tried a few, but didn’t really like anything, and I started complaining a lot to Emma. And then, she just came up with this idea: ‘You’re Swedish; you played a Russian; you’re a chemical engineer, why don’t you make your own?’ That didn’t strike me as a bad idea.
Emma and I worked on it together and tried a bunch of vodkas to find something that was smooth enough to drink straight up, over ice – the way I like to drink it. We went through some from Sweden, some from Poland and some American vodkas. We found that we liked potato vodka the best, because they’re smoother and creamier. We ended up finding one that’s made in Idaho.
We started working with [former Moët Hennessy executive and Leblon cachaça founder, and current Hard Cut CEO] Steve Luttmann about four years ago and he put us in touch with the distillery – they sent us about 20 different samples and there was one that we liked a lot. So, I’ve been involved in picking the actual liquid. Emma and I were involved in the design of the bottle; We wanted it to look tough and kind of macho, with big shoulders. I came up with the name, which comes from the Hollywood editing world.
All of this blended together to create something that I felt I could stand behind.
You haven’t leaned into your Northern European roots.
There was a temptation. We spoke to a Swedish vodka brand, which was quite smooth as well, but the supply side didn’t work out. We’re very interested in getting Hard Cut into Sweden and Norway, where my wife’s from.
It feels good that our vodka’s American made – The US is the first market we’re tackling now. At the same time, with all the tariff wars going on and everything, it makes things quite simple that it’s all here. The biggest part of the puzzle – the liquid – is in the market.
The vodka shelves are incredibly crowded and have been for a very long time. Who are you looking to replace?
We just launched two months ago, so we’re still finding our way. We’re not really looking to replace anybody per se. We’re trying to introduce people to a new potato vodka – about 2% of all vodkas in America are made from potatoes. Here’s an opportunity to get a potato vodka that’s pretty affordable, at US$26, and overproof at 45% ABV; part of our idea when we created Hard Cut was to make it a little tougher than the other vodkas.
If you think about the vodka market strategically, the main brands have been around for a long time. If everything works out, we hope to be the new vodka standard that will take market share from everybody. When people realise our vodka tastes better, they can enjoy being part of this brand.
Celebrity fronted brands have been a thing in alcohol for a very long time.
I realise that there are a lot of celebrity-driven brands; people want to get in on the action. But, there’s nothing new under the sun, right? If you want to make a movie, for example, there’s been a lot of great films over the last 100 years. But, if you spend time working on a project you believe in, that you have passion for and you give focus to, then hopefully the consumers will come.
I try to leverage my action persona and my fan base and how people perceive me – that’s part of our brand. It’s an advantage to have a known person involved, because it brings eyes to the brand, and I’m trying to do that.
I don’t know many celebrity brands where the owner has been involved in creating the brand and coming up with the recipe. I don’t know how many were founded like ours, but I don’t think it’s that many. Hopefully Hard Cut will stand out in that way too.
Moving forward, how involved do you intend to be with the brand?
Earlier today, I met with 80 Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits representatives in New York, where we’re launching this month. We’ve got our launch event on Monday, then on Tuesday and Wednesday, I’ll be at Bar Convent Brooklyn.
I just came from Florida where I did social media content for ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, which has around 100 stores in the state. We’ll be live there this fall. Then, in two weeks, I’m going to Sweden, where we’re going to start a small-scale introduction to the state-owned liquor retailer [Systembolaget].
I’m involved; This is my full-time job. I still have a few movies that I’m trying to get made, but on a daily basis, I spend about 80% of my time on Hard Cut and 20% on movies.
What are your aspirations for Hard Cut?
In the short term, I hope to bring it to as many consumers as possible, to engage with them and get them to taste it. We’re starting in America first, then hopefully heading to other countries around the world.
On a longer perspective, it wouldn’t be so bad if we could expand this brand and be more of a business owner rather than an actor. I’ve been an actor for 40 years and it’s still fun – I’m not going to stop. It’s more satisfying to run a successful business than just do the same thing for 40 years.
What’s your perception of the alcohol industry?
It’s a softer, friendlier crowd than the entertainment business crowd, which tends to be really hard and a bit insecure. All artists have inner doubt, which fuels their creative urges. You feel a little more like people are in competition with each other in Hollywood.
In the beverage industry, I’ve felt people are more relaxed and it’s more fun, which is a really important part of it. On a social level, I like it better than Hollywood, for sure.
